Every detail of the universe sings the song of creation,
Each with the unique beauty it possesses
Reveals a unique sound.
Lamnatzeiach Mizmor Lidovid
Man is the conductor of the orchestra.
We must incorporate each of the many instruments,
We must let each string be plucked at the right moment
With the strength or softness it deserves,
We must know how to time the perfect silences
Which enhance the song.
It's nice to hit a high note once in a while…
But to continually play it won't do any good.
We may like to hear the sweet sound of the flute,
But we must learn to include the drums and hard bass
And understand their crucial role in the completion of this symphony.
If we can learn to incorporate more sounds into our song,
If we can learn to pluck at the unique beauty of each detail of creation
Every creature, every person, every experience, every philosophy and ideology,
And see how they each play a crucial part in the harmonious whole,
Then we will awaken to the new song,
The song of King David, "the sweet singer of Israel."
There are many unique fruits,
Each with its own taste, texture, shape, and color.
Sometimes we need to peel away the bitter-tasting outer appearance
In order to taste the fruit within,
Other times the cloak is edible
Its goodness is readily apparent.
Sometimes when taking a bite of something perfectly sweet and juicy,
Our teeth suddenly hit upon a hard pit
Because these precious innards are too good to merely consume
And need to be placed in the ground
Where they can give off new life.
If you enjoy only certain fruits
Or prefer one to the other,
Now is the time to develop unique and incomparable likings for them all
Because when we finally perceive the unique beauty of each detail
And no longer rate them against each other,
When we can finally see that the many differences each of us possesses
Don't need to cause so much conflict,
When extreme opposites can be seen complimenting each other,
instead of contradicting,
"Az yashir Moshe u'binei Yisroel et hashira hazot
Then Moshe and the Children of Israel will sing this song."
A few sources:
A Tannaic source tells us of "The Chapter of Song", compiled by King David and King Shlomo, which reveals the unique verse which each part of creation sings. There are a few versions of this song, which seems to imply that it is subjective to each person, each composer. This ability to perceive the unique goodness of each detail is characterized David and Shlomo-they understood all the languages of creation.
"Rebbe Eliezer said, 'Anyone who involves himself with the Chapter of Song in this world, merits saying it in the World to Come, as it says, "Then Moshe will sing"; it does not say "sang," rather "will sing" in the World to Come'."
"Rebbe (the author of the Mishna) said, 'Anyone who involves himself with the Chapter of Song in this world, I testify that he is a child of The World to Come." The later Rabbis explain that the words "involves himself" means that he is completely a part of and surrounded in the song as if it is playing through him. They also explain that this experience of being involved in the song is itself an experience of "The World to Come."
The Ari z"l spoke strongly about saying the Chapter of Song everyday.
"Since a man includes within him all the foundations of the world, when he sings this song, he gives strength to the angels and spiritual ministers of each aspect of creation on which he sings, and through this he draws life-force and radiance down to all the lower worlds." (Rabbi Chaim M'luzin, Nefesh Hachaim)
"Its important to know that each creation, even through a specific angel is appointed on them from heaven, has no mouth on its own to sing. It is only through man from whom everything stems [that they sing.]" (Rabbi Yaakov Emden)
"Anyone who is involved in The Chapter of Song merits gazing at the Chariot, and he merits the goodness of the days of Moshiach." (Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf)
"The Holy One Blessed is He formed man in a wondrous way - included within him is everything that exists in the world, from small to large. Each and every aspect of creation sings on its own due to its individual abilities and according to its nature and unique characteristics which Hashem has graciously given it. To reveal this, a person needs to sing while reflecting all of them, because in his nature is included all the energy of the creations of the world." (Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Salant)
When Chizkiyahu was King he decreed that at the door of every Beit Ha-Midrash (Study Hall) should be a sword preventing people from leaving the Word of God in order to involve themselves in worldly things. The Midrash says of him that had he learnt how to sing he would have been the Moshiach.
Rebbe Natan in Likutei Halachot explains that the song that Moshe and the Chlidren of Israel sang when crossing the sea was in the future tense because at that time they were singing about an inspiration (prophesy) of the song that the Zohar says Moshiach will sing in the future, as it says, "Sing to Hashem a new song." This is a song which will completely heal the princess (the sefira of Malchut) because it includes every aspect of creation.
The Midrash states that when the sea was split, it was split into 12 parts so that each tribe could walk down their own path and in that way the entire Nation crossed to sea together.
The midrash says that when Adam rectifies his sin he sings: "mizmor shir liyom hashabat" - "sing the song of the Sabath day". Shlomo Charlebach: "The whole world is waiting to sing the song of Shabbat."
"Awaken, Awaken, sing a song" (L'cha Dodi)
About the fuits - Gemara: "R' Abbun said: 'in the next world a person will be judged for all the fine fruits he saw but did not eat'." Although Rabbi Elazar was very poor he would save up coins in a special pouch to purchase new fruits as they came into season each year. He tried to eat every kind of fruit at least once a year.
Recently in Bat Ayin much discussion has been aroused as to whether or not it's appropriate to go on to Har Ha-Bayit, the place where the temple once stood. Many conflicting opinions were brought from the numerous sects of Judaism, ranging from an opinion that says this is a necessary and important step, to an opinion that says its absolutely forbidden to do so, as well as everything in between. Many different reasons were given for each of these opinions.
One popular opinion held a doubt about whether we are fit in our present state to walk on such holy ground and suggested we should learn the deeper significance of the Temple before marching onto Har Ha-Bayit.
I think that the multiplicity of opinions itself provides an answer.
What were they doing in the Beit Ha-Mikdash, in the holy Temple, the center of spirituality in the world? They were singing. They were making music with fifty thousand instruments and a hundred thousand voices.
The ruins of the Temple are a reflection of the conflict between these many sects of Judaism, the divisions which destroy instead of building. The Temple is like a puzzle, the only way to build it is to figure out how all the unique pieces fit together; labeling label this piece right and this piece wrong will not help us unite the piece of the puzzle. To reject one holy way is to collapse the building, and to force the pieces to be uniform in shape will prevent any kind of construction.
May each of us be blessed to continue with the ability to make music. And may we recognize our jobs as builders of the Temple and be blessed with the abilities and courage to build it with each of the six hundred thousand stones of the souls of Israel. And may we witness the Cherubim's ultimate embrace. Good Shobbas!